What's in a Name?
by Griever11
Summary: One Shot. Post 7x06 - the story behind Ryan calling them 'The Castles' for the first time.


It's almost seven in the evening when Kevin Ryan finally turns over the last page of the report he's been working on for the last hour. He stretches languidly, wincing as he hears the tell-tale crack of his bones – he's definitely been sitting down for far too long. He looks around the bullpen and to his surprise, he finds that Beckett's still around, furiously scribbling through pages of what looks to be her own stacks of reports.

Weird.

As far as he's aware, he'd manage to pull the short straw this time round and it was his turn to deal with the paperwork for their cases this week. Beckett shouldn't have had any to complete – Esposito certainly hadn't. His partner had practically skipped out of the precinct the moment the clock struck five, crowing about his weekend plans with some dancer he'd met earlier in the week. So, _really_ , what exactly is Beckett still doing at her desk at seven o' clock on a Friday evening?

He checks his cell phone, makes a mental note to reply Jenny's text when he leaves the building and saunters over to Beckett's desk. She's so engrossed in whatever she's doing that she doesn't look up at him until he leans over her, casting a shadow over her papers. Beckett startles and her pen slips from her grasp, clattering to the floor.

"Ryan! What the hell?"

She glares at him, narrowing her eyes at him until he bends over to pick up her pen. She can really be intimidating when she wants to be. Ryan clears his throat as he places the pen back on her desk. "What are you up to, Beckett? It's not paperwork for the case, is it? Because it's my turn this week."

She shakes her head, but remains tight-lipped. It's really subtle, but Ryan notices – he's a _detective_ after all – that Beckett's slowly trying to move her forearms to cover most of the writing on the sheet of paper on her desk. She moves her chair in, scooting closer to her desk and leans forward, the material of the sleeves of her blouse now completely obscuring her work. Hm, interesting.

"Just wrapping up a few loose ends from before Castle and I left for our honeymoon, that's all. It's really nothing," she tells him eventually. Ryan shrugs in nonchalance, but his curiosity is now properly piqued, and he wants to know exactly what's so important that it's keeping Beckett from going home to her husband.

He remembers his own honeymoon period with Jenny; for weeks on end they couldn't get enough of each other. The moment he was able to clock off from the precinct, he was racing out the door to his wife, whether it was to spend the night cuddling in front of their television, or if they were spending their night participating in more adult activities. He can't imagine Castle and Beckett being any different, considering their shorter than usual honeymoon, _and_ the fact that they're _Castle and Beckett_ \- walking exhibits of combustible sexual chemistry.

So, Ryan decides, Beckett staying late at the precinct, doing paperwork that clearly _isn't_ case related paperwork, instead of loving it up with Castle? V _ery_ weird.

"I'm sure it can wait until Monday, Beckett. C'mon, I'll walk you to your car."

He offers her an easy smile but Beckett doesn't quite return it, instead choosing to look back down onto her desk. "I'm fine, Kev. I'll be done soon. You should go, really."

He inches closer, trying to catch exactly what she's hiding but she stops him with another steely glare. This time he doesn't back down and instead opting to sit on the edge of her desk, casting his gaze down towards the papers.

"C'mon Beckett. You can tell me. What are you doing? Has Castle already pissed you off so much that you need to file for divorce so soon?" he jokes. Beckett huffs indignantly at him and shoves him off her desk.

"No, they're not divorce papers, okay?"

"Then what are they? They're not work related, so they must be personal – and if you're not doing them at home, you're hiding them from Castle. So-"

"I'm not hiding anything from Castle, Ryan," she protests immediately. "It's nothing."

"Then why won't you tell me what you're doing?"

He watches as Beckett studies him and he knows it's her way of deciding if he's worthy of whatever piece of information she's about to bestow upon him. He's known her long enough to identify some of her 'looks' – not as well as Castle can, of course – and if he's not mistaken, from the way she's sighing and biting her bottom lip, she's about ready to spill the beans.

"They're just 'change of details' forms okay, Ryan?"

Oh, definitely not what he expected. And most definitely not as exciting either. "Oh. That's … Why do you have to complete them now?"

"Gates told me to give them to her a week ago, but I slipped my mind. She told me before she left today that they have to be submitted on Monday morning to process our next pay check so I thought I'd put them on her desk tonight. Satisfied?"

Her phone chirps suddenly and she eases her chair away from her desk, grabbing it as she stretches her neck from side to side. It's the first chance Ryan's gotten all evening to look down at the forms on her desk unobstructed and what he sees on them is delightful. They _are_ indeed the standard forms for changing their personal details, he's filled them out numerous times himself. But this time instead of the customary 'Change of Address' field that most people use them for for, he notices that she's filled out different fields in her neat lettering.

 _Change of Name:_

 _Previous Name: Katherine Beckett_

 _Current Name: Katherine Castle_

 _Preferred Name: Katherine Beckett_

Oh, wow.

He glances up at her and she's busy on her phone, presumably sending a message to Castle. She hasn't noticed Ryan's wandering eyes and he's thankful for it. He marvels at his newfound knowledge as he moves away from her desk. She's legally taken his name, actually changed her name and it sends his romantic heart aflutter. Who would have thought Kate Beckett, who at one point was the number one supporter of the 'Get Richard Castle out of my precinct' movement would one day voluntarily change her name to Kate _Castle_? Esposito's going to absolutely have the time of his life with this little tidbit. He chuckles quietly to himself. Oh man, Lanie is going to have the _best_ time.

She looks up at him when she hears him laugh, presumably done with whatever she was doing before on her phone. She takes one look at the shit-eating grin on his face, glances at her desk and he sees the moment she puts two and two together.

"Kevin," she warns, pointing a threatening finger at him. She stands and gathers the papers up in her hands, hiding them once again from his view. "Kevin Ryan, do not even -"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Beckett," he reassures her, straightening his suit jacket as he prepares to finally leave the precinct. He tries, _really_ tries – but the opportunity is just too hard to miss. "Or should I say, _Castle_?"

He barely has time to duck before Beckett flings a stapler his way and can't help but laugh at the disgruntled look on her face. She looks like she's about to throw more projectiles at him, so he hurries backwards towards the elevator, jamming his finger at the call button the moment he gets to it. The doors slide open easily and he steps in, waving goodbye to Beckett.

One more. Just _one_ more.

"I'll see you Castles bright and early Monday morning!" He calls out not even trying to contain the snigger that escapes from his lips.

Oh, crap – she's striding determinedly towards the elevator now with a murderous look on her face but before she gets to him, the doors close and he breathes a happy sigh of relief. He pulls out his phone as the car begins its descent and opens up the messaging app.

 _Javi, you're not going to believe what I just found out._


End file.
